Abueva > Hodge

Pantay sa hustle, pero sa gulang,
diskarte at laro lamang si Abueva di hamak

Now that the dust has settled and all the smoke has cleared, let's lay one of this season's top arguments to rest: that the Meralco Bolts' Clifford Hodge and the Alaska Aces' Calvin Abueva are the same player. Hell, some even argued that Hodge is better than Abueva.

Counting all the games, Abueva averaged 27 minutes and put up 14 points and 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 turnovers. Hodge played 30 minutes, scored 10 points and pulled down 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Abueva has under his belt a number of double double games while Hodge only has one to speak of. And before you say that their numbers are almost identical, don't forget that the 3 rebounds disparity shouldn't be taken for granted considering Abueva is 6"1 1/2 shifting from small forward to power forward in the Aces' rotation while Hodge is 6"5 and plays the power forward position for the Bolts.

So yeah, Abueva > Hodge. Right now.


As an individual player, Hodge is still raw. There's no masking it, and no matter what some "experts" say, his productivity on the court is a result more of his athleticism and hustle rather than any legit basketball skill. He jumps right out of the gym, battles and scraps for loose balls and takes hits and keeps coming back for more. You can't expect Hodge to create any scoring opportunities for himself or others because he's not very good dribbling the basketball. He is also not too keen on making the kickout passes necessary to make the Bolts' Dribble Drive offense click (putting too much pressure on Sol Mercado).

Truly an admirable specimen with loads of potential with great attitude on and off the floor (read: very coachable). But to say that he is better than Abueva would be a stretch. Nay, it would be retarded, plain and simple.

As for Abueva, even the greatest of haters (Hi Miakka Lim and the whole San Beda community-- let's all forgive and forget and move on from the college affiliations now shall we) have to admit that this is one relentless, overly aggressive (to a fault at times) player who is the first of his kind. This is the kind of player we see in the streets, hustling, rebounding, scoring, running both ends of the courts and doing all sorts of things that helps his team win games. Yung tipong takbo, talon, tira, takbo, sadsad sa kalsada kahit mabalatan yung tuhod tipo ng player.

One-on-one, Abueva has an above average game. His jumper is faulty, but he's vastly improved from when he first made waves in the NCAA. His handles have also grown leaps and bounds, now able to dribble side-to-side against defenders instead of simply barging into the lane (which is still his go to move). There's some finesse now with his finishes, which given his moniker "The Beast" we never imagined to be possible.

Truly, there's no one like Abueva. You know the times when you have Willie Miller crossing his eyebrows and bent on scoring, or a young Marc Pingris ready to die for loose balls and rebounds? That's Abueva, only he does it night in and night out while Miller's eyebrows only crossed a handful of times and Pingris' age and injuries slowed him down somewhat.

Our idol Jaemark Tordecilla once said that if you were to put Arwind Santos' game inside Ronald Tubid's body, keeping Tubid's antics and charisma, you'd get Abueva. Our only concern really is that Abueva looks to be already at his prime and might not be able to be as effective once the big, 6"10 imports come to play (his rebounding will surely take a hit). He also has his moments when he walks away from the system and looks to call his own number. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Both are great rookies, but Abueva is the better two-way player today. Give Hodge a year or two. And someone please tell AKTV to quit playing his video over and over like they want him to be a household name.

End of discussion.